Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

February 27, 2020February 27, 2020

Final word on One CGIAR viewpoints

Ok, let’s recap. Food Policy put out a sort of special issue, or rather special section of its latest issue, entitled On Research Strategy for the new ‘One CGIAR’. It consists of an editorial plus 5 “viewpoint” papers. They’re all behind paywalls. I first just saw the one by Dr David Lobell, and wrote a bit about it here. Then I saw the ones by Drs Rebecca Nelson and Lawrence Haddad, and wrote about them.

It was then that I finally twigged to the scale of the thing, and saw the two remaining pieces. Actually it was thanks to a Twitter exchange, but maybe that’s another story. One of the viewpoints I missed is by Dr Pedro Sanchez, who basically says that CGIAR should focus more on nutrient-rich foods, both plant- and animal-based, which is congruent with the others in highlighting the importance of agricultural biodiversity without actually mentioning it, let alone genebanks. The second is by a group of 6 Cornell researchers, and they summarize their recommendations as follows, and I quote:

One CGIAR must cooperate and collaborate with multiple international partners.

One CGIAR must build regional capacity and training in cooperation with NARIs.

Working environments at the One CGIAR must address researchers’ work-life issues.

One CGIAR requires research strategies that are policy-relevant and proven to work.

One CGIAR must lead in advocating for and communicating about science.

Which I can’t really distinguish from what’s happening at the moment, except maybe in terms of quantity, but anyway.

Still waiting for reactions, in particular from NARIs. Go for it below…

February 25, 2020February 25, 2020

A new genetic resources journal

Very worthy endeavour kicks off.

We are happy to announce the creation of Genetic Resources (www.GenResJ.org), a new open access peer-reviewed online journal which is free to publish and free to read. The journal is inspired by the late Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter and Animal Genetic Resources journal and aims to fill the gaps left by their discontinuation. Starting as part of the GenRes Bridge project, this new journal will serve as a common platform to share knowledge, tools and other information among practitioners and researchers across different domains of genetic resources, with a focus on plant, animal and forest genetic resources. The first issue of Genetic Resources is scheduled to be published in June 2020.

Genetic Resources publishes methods, strategies, guidelines, case studies or reviews on a variety of topics of interest on the present and future use of genetic resources. These may include the documentation, conservation, management, assessment, characterization and evaluation of genetic resources and their link to broader biodiversity, socioeconomic practices, policy guidelines or similar, serving stakeholders within and across sectors. Its target audience are practitioners and researchers involved in monitoring, collecting, maintaining, conserving, characterizing and using genetic resources for food, agriculture and forestry.

Genetic Resources is now accepting submissions of manuscripts for consideration in the journal. Authors are invited to submit original research, reviews or short communications that cover the scope of the journal.

For further details, please visit our website: www.GenResJ.org and review our Author Guidelines. If you are interested in joining the editorial board, becoming a reviewer or for any other additional information please contact the managing editor Sandra Goritschnig at s.goritschnig at cgiar.org.

We look forward to receiving your submissions.

Send your stuff in now to make it into the inaugural issue.

February 24, 2020February 28, 2020

Open sesame

Go on, follow the largest ever deposit to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. There’s a hashtag, of course there is: #SeedVault2020.

You know you want to.

LATER: And, it’s a wrap!

https://twitter.com/NordGen/status/1232978684421734402

February 24, 2020February 14, 2020

Brainfood: Grassland diversity, Perennial crops, Ancient dates, Armenian grapes, Endangered trees, HLB sniffers, Household data, NUS, Phenotyping, Sorghum parasites, Wild Vigna, Ancient foods, Climate frontier

Economic benefits from plant species diversity in intensively managed grasslands. More species means more milk, more money and less risk.
Community structure of soil fungi in a novel perennial crop monoculture, annual agriculture, and native prairie reconstruction. Perennial monoculture not unlike native prairie.
Origins and insights into the historic Judean date palm based on genetic analysis of germinated ancient seeds and morphometric studies. Ancient Judean dates may have come from further east.
Genetic diversity and traditional uses of aboriginal grape (Vitis vinifera L.) varieties from the main viticultural regions of Armenia. 71 genotypes, no less.
Mapping tree species vulnerability to multiple threats as a guide to restoration and conservation of tropical dry forests. About 50% of the distribution of 50 trees in northwestern Peru and southern Ecuador is vulnerable.
Canine olfactory detection of a vectored phytobacterial pathogen, Liberibacter asiaticus, and integration with disease control. Dogs can sniff out a nasty citrus disease.
The Rural Household Multiple Indicator Survey, data from 13,310 farm households in 21 countries. 758 variables, no less.
Local Solutions for Sustainable Food Systems: The Contribution of Orphan Crops and Wild Edible Species. Increasing dietary diversity, more market opportunities for smallholders, and more attention to biodiversity conservation. Do orphan crops feature among the 758 variables above?
Breeder friendly phenotyping. Focused, rapid and precise. Much like me, then?
Genomics of sorghum local adaptation to a parasitic plant. Why we need on-farm conservation.
Mapping patterns of abiotic and biotic stress resilience uncovers conservation gaps and breeding potential of Vigna wild relatives. Sources of resistance to biotic stresses are more common than to abiotic stresses, in terms of the number of species that have them.
Archaeobotanical evidence of food plants in Northern Italy during the Roman period. Nice take-homes from Dr Lisa Lodwick on Twitter.
The environmental consequences of climate-driven agricultural frontiers. Areas newly suitable for one or more crops store a lot of C, cover a lot of important watersheds and are home to a lot of biodiversity.

February 18, 2020February 18, 2020

Power on Your Plate

That’s the catchy title of a forthcoming conference on African indigenous vegetables, to be held 25-28 May 2020 in Arusha, Tanzania. Here’s the somewhat more clunky subhead: An All-Africa Summit on Diversifying Food Systems with African Traditional Vegetables to Increase Health, Nutrition and Wealth.

Regular readers of this blog will know that we have a thing for African leafy greens here, so we’ll be keeping a beady eye on this one. Thanks to the World Vegetable Centre for organizing it.

BTW, I’ve just noticed that WorldVeg has a new (at least to me) way to search for research on vegetables etc., called HARVEST.

And since I’m at it, kudos for including a link to the genebank on the banner at the top of the conference website, as well as the institute homepage. Kinda wish CGIAR centres did that too…

Oh, and the WorldVeg genebank is contributing to the largest ever deposit event to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.